Barry Burkowski
Barry Burkowski is a money launderer based in Miami. He is portrayed by Paul Tei. Overview Since every person in Miami's underworld - terrorists, drug dealers, or white-collar criminals - needs a money launderer, Barry serves as a sort of "Yellow Pages for criminals". For Michael Westen as well, who frequently needs Barry's assistance in situations where tracking money can provide a lead. History Early History Barry had history with Michael prior to his burn notice. He also has close ties with Sam Axe and Fiona Glenanne. Barry was once a podiatry student before dropping out. His mother never forgave him for that. He used to forge bad checks, and earned himself the nickname "Bad Check Barry". Season 1 When Michael returned to Miami, he took a job to recover stolen art pieces for Graham Pyne and clear Javier's name. Barry set up a meeting for Michael with an art dealer named Walter. Michael notes that Barry, being a money launderer, makes it his job to be accessible, and will always take Michael's call, regardless of his questionable status. Barry made sure to remind Michael not to forget "who showed him love" when things were dark for him. While Agent Jason Bly investigated Michael for his personal investigation into his burn notice, Barry helped Michael blackmail Bly by setting up phony business accounts, indicating a partnership between the two. Michael offered him $3,000 for his services rendered. Sam came to Barry to learn about the Spider Brooch that went missing in a robbery. Barry pointed him to Cristo, a black market jeweler in Miami who soured Barry's reputation, costing him some clients. Michael returned the favor by holding one of Cristo's clients' jewelry for collateral as long as Cristo remained silent about his visit. Cristo ultimately broke under interrogation from Lawrence Henderson, the real brooch thief, causing him to lose the jewelry held by Michael. Michael gave the jewelry to Sam, who passed it onto Barry as "compliments from Cristo." Between Michael's visit to Cristo's place and losing his client's jewelry, Cristo loses some clients in the process, which made Barry more than happy to pass information on the thief's banks where he was more than likely to move the brooch. After Sam's duo gig with Fiona went sour (resulting in Sam being kidnapped), Michael came to Barry to find the second biggest drug importer in Miami. Carmelo would eventually track Sam's kidnapper to a boat and help find Sam. Season 2 Shortly after the fallout of Sam's rescue and Michael's capture, Barry felt it was time to lay low and hide. Fiona tracked him down to a tanning salon, where she inquired into Nefzi. Barry told Fiona where Michael could find him. He also asked Fiona that his laying low and not taking calls was nothing personal. Michael met Barry at Carlito's to forge a money transfer from Michael to Zeke, a club owner who conned people out of their money. He warned Michael he only had three minutes to show the funds before the money disappeared back to its source. Barry accepted a $10,000 payment from Michael to meet Eddie Ash in person as a real estate broker. When Michael needed help from Barry to track his would-be assassin's bank records, Barry gave suspicious tells indicating he was bugged. The receiving end of the microphone belonged to Michael's part-time nemesis, Jason Bly. Bly used Barry as leverage for Michael's blackmail materials against Billy's "illegal" activities. A day later, Michael and Bly would eventually work together to subdue the bank robbers led by Tom Prescott. After saving the bank hostages, Bly cleared Barry of his involvement with Michael and offered to track the account number for him. Later on Michael and Barry met up outside Carlito's where Sam and Fiona were waiting for Michael to celebrate. Michael and Barry agreed from here on out that if Barry was ever in trouble, specifically if he was bugged like earlier that he would give Michael a code -- Barry would offer to buy Michael's lunch. Season 3 Sam met with Barry about apprehending Rufino Cortez. He asked Barry to create a cover package for Michael so he can meet and capture him. In return, Barry made Sam promise to take him out of the country. Sam called Barry to set up a mayor's aide and connect her to Michael so Detective Paxson's partner can take the heat for investigating the angle. Eventually, he poses as a Hamstad Bank to confirm to Tyler Brennen that 261,000 pounds were transferred from his bank account, leaving him with only four pounds. Barry charged Michael $1,000 to look into a plane he suspects to be run by CIA operatives. The charge is for traveling to Tallahassee to see his mother as an "annoyance tax." Eventually, Barry cashes in his favors with Michael to help him retrieve a ledger which lists his clients including those who have made fortunes through questionable means. Season 6 Barry arrived at Madeline's house while she was with Sam, while Mike was in Atlantic City hunting Anson Fullerton. He had been shot in the arm by one of Fiona's old gun buddies and needed to get a ride to his client's house where he stored his files so he could get immunity from the FBI. Sam agreed to take him to a vacation house, but as they were leaving, guys with guns showed up and shot at them, hitting Barry in the leg. After some quick strategies, and killing the guys by blowing up the house while they were hiding under a tub, Sam and Barry escaped. After Michael killed Tom Card and was on the run, Madeline met with Barry for a favor from Michael. She had him throw up a "financial smokescreen" to keep the CIA off their trail. After he finished it, he got a call from an informant, telling him that the CIA was on the way. Insisting he stay behind, Barry told Madeline to go, which she did. While driving home, Madeline received a call from Olivia Riley. Riley told her that in the last 10 minutes she received calls three different foreign agencies with new leads on Mike's whereabouts, with each one in a different corner of the globe. She continued by saying that she knew Madeline put Barry up to it because she found three cigarette butts in his ashtray that were her favorite brand and she would get DNA proof soon. Before Olivia could continue, however, Madeline hung up the phone and threw it out the car window, much to Olivia's annoyance. Season 7 While Barry was seen in attendance at Michael & Fiona's "funeral," it's unknown if he is aware of the truth that they are alive. Current Status It's implied that after the CIA raided his home he was put in jail and was released after 4 months, losing his girlfriend and a lot of his clients. Trivia Barry's name is derived from a decorated Police Officer in New Jersey, who is a huge fan of the show. Episode Appearances *Pilot *Broken Rules *Wanted Man *Dead Drop *Loose Ends *Turn and Burn *Trust Me *Bad Blood *Bad Breaks *Friends and Family *End Run *Signals and Codes *Friends Like These *Friends and Enemies *Fast Friends *No Good Deed *Shock Wave *Best Laid Plans Category:Westen's clients Category:People Category:Season 1 characters Category:Season 2 characters Category:Season 3 characters Category:Season 4 characters Category:Recurring Characters Category:Season 5 characters Category:Season 6 characters